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Please note: The reports in this section are not product reviews or tests; they're meant to spotlight options for you to consider, as well as milestones in children's online-safety technology development. Comments from readers on their own experiences with these products and services are most welcome - and, with your permission, we publish them. Do email us your own product reviews anytime!
[Editor's note about YOW: We regret to report that Your Own World is no longer available, a victim of the dot-com downturn in 2001. We leave this page here for historical reference.]
YOW gets a 'wow' (Oct. 1 '99 issue)
We first looked at Your Own World (YOW) last June, before it even had a name. Its makers, Passport New Media, say YOW is for ages 2 to 12 but we think it'll be most attractive to the younger half of that range. This safe, imaginative little world is an alternative both to the wild, woolly Internet and to another closed-system children's service called JuniorNet. It's interesting to compare - and watch the progress of - both services, because they have opposite business models. JuniorNet charges a subscription fee but is ad-free, and YOW follows the TV model - free but with (child-appropriate) advertising.
YOW is creative in a number of ways:
- YOW has Yop the penguin. Yop is a pretty irresistible virtual pet. But he's better (or will be), because Yop will "have a life." Not only will a child play with and take care of him (as in interactive multimedia); she'll watch him develop (as on TV). Yop responds to the imaginations of both child and producer. We think this is what differentiates Net-based interactive media from all media that's come before.
- It's closed off from the Internet, yet content is updated daily. Parents configure the time slot (20 minutes a day at, say, 2 am) when fresh content is automatically downloaded and shopping orders are uploaded (there will be an areas where parents can purchase books, CDs, toys, etc. related to the content on YOW).
- Content is customized to each child, based on where s/he lives and what parents tell the system about the child (no information goes to any third party, we're assured).
- Each child has her own password, so individual sibs have their own YOW experiences.
- The experience is as fast as, if not faster than, a CD-ROM experience - faster than T1 speed (almost none of us has that fast a connection to our homes) - because it's not dependent on your modem speed.
- Ads don't take kids away from the playground; they're just games too, part of the YOW environment.
- The YOW experience is not so closed that email can't happen. Email comes later, but Passport New Media says parents will have to enable it, compile the address list, and review email first before a child has access. Then, email will be down/uploaded once a day, as with other content. Kid polls are coming too, we're told (kids love them).
- YOW will report to parents about kids' activities. It's not an eavesdropping or monitoring thing; it's meant to be an opportunity for moms and dads to learn more about their children.
- Content is built around well-loved children's characters/activities. YOW's makers just announced its content partnership with The Learning Company, makers of children's educational and reference software. More deals with well-known companies to come. (This part is a lot like JuniorNet's deals with Highlights, Bear in the Big Blue House, etc.)
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